IN THE LAND OF MEN by Antonya...

IN THE LAND OF MEN by Antonya Nelson (Avon: $8; 239 pp.). As the title suggests, these off-beat stories by the author of “The Expendables” focus on women who find contemporary American society as alien as the terra incognita of medieval maps. “Adobe” and “The Facts of Air” depict lonely women looking for homes. The stories that center on male characters are considerably less successful; Nelson doesn’t communicate the motivations and fears of the little boy in “The Control Group” or the wastrel stud in “Fire Season” as effectively.